church-history
Historical studies on the development of Christian doctrine, early church writings, councils, and controversies.
No Sola Fide in the Early Church Paid Members Public
I cite what the late renowned Protestant scholar Philip Schaff admitted in respect to Luther’s doctrine of sola fide, or of forensic justification where Luther claimed a person was declared (not made) just/righteous by faith in Christ alone, being virtually unknown in the early Church. All emphasis will
Esdras & The Early Church: A Response to William Webster Paid Members Public
by John Betts Introduction William Webster, a popular Evangelical Protestant apologist, has written a book on the formation of the Canon of Scripture. Together with his online material on this subject, he essentially recycles many of the arguments Protestants and Catholics have had for centuries on this. Webster seems to
A 2nd Response to William Webster on Esdras Paid Members Public
By John Betts Protestant apologist William Webster has finally responded to the article I wrote in 2004, entitled Esdras & The Early Church: A Response to William Webster. Yet unfortunately this ‘response’ is essentially a re-posting of his original material that fails to substantiate his assertions and repeatedly misrepresents or
The Holy Eucharist In the Early Church Paid Members Public
The following excerpt is taken from the late Christian historian Jaroslav Pelikan’s book, The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Vol. 1: The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600), published by University of Chicago Press in 1975, pp.166-171. All emphasis will be mine. The same
St. Augustine, Trinity & Filioque Pt. 2 Paid Members Public
The following is taken from St. Augustine’s On the Trinity Book 5 (V). All emphasis will be mine. Chapter 8.— Whatever is Spoken of God According to Substance, is Spoken of Each Person Severally, and Together of the Trinity Itself. One Essence in God, and Three, in Greek, Hypostases,
ICONS IN THE EARLY CHURCH Paid Members Public
In this post I will cite some 2nd–4th Christian references testifying to the usage and veneration of sacred icons and images such as crosses. All emphasis will be mine. TERTULLIAN Chapter 16 For, like some others, you are under the delusion that our god is an ass’s head.
The Non-Rule of Mr. Svendsen Paid Members Public
by David Palm The Burden of Proof I want to say a few more words about the burden proof in this discussion of the meaning of heõs hou in Matthew 1:25. As I fully expected, Eric Svendsen has tried repeatedly to shift the burden of proof to his opponents
Tatian, Irenaeus, Cyril on the Trinity Paid Members Public
The following excerpt is taken from Michael F. Bird’s Jesus Among the Gods: Early Christology in the Greco-Roman World, published by Baylor University Press, Waco, TX in 2022], pp. 157-160. This is from section II. Jesus and Intermediary Figures, 4. Jesus and the “In-Betweeners”: Comparing Early Christologies and Intermediary